Free Republic

A Jeep Wrangler EV parked at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View burst into flames Thursday before spreading to three other nearby vehicles, according to the Mountain View Fire Department. Firefighters responded at 4:53 p.m. to the report of smoke coming from a parking lot charging station in the 1300 block of Shorebird Way. Arriving crews found an active fire involving the Jeep EV along with two Teslas and a Honda. Using a preconnected hose line, firefighters got the flames under control and prevented the spread to additional vehicles in the area, MVFD said. No injuries were reported in the fire....

She didn’t avoid the elephant in the room. Former Vice President Kamala Harris emerged from political hibernation to deliver a stern rebuke of President Trump — before bizarrely shifting focus to a lighthearted video of elephants at the San Diego Zoo during an earthquake. “A lot of folks are wondering what’s going to guide us through this moment. How are we all going to figure out how to chart the course,” Harris said during her Wednesday address at Emerge’s 20th anniversary gala in San Francisco. “Please allow me, friends, to digress for a moment.” “Okay, it’s kind of dark in...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - While Christians have often complained of bias in the selection of which days Google honors with its "Google Doodles," believers around the country were reportedly ecstatic to find that the search and advertising giant chose to honor the empty tomb of Jesus on Easter morning with an empty homepage. While many significant holidays like International Women's Day, Labor Day, and "Celebrating Pad Thai" are honored with a specially designed Google logo for the day, the celebration of Jesus's resurrection was given the highest honor, with a completely unaltered Google homepage. "Just as Christ left a completely...

Today the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice prevailed in its second monopolization case against Google. In United States et al. v. Google, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held that Google violated antitrust law by monopolizing open-web digital advertising markets. According to the Court, Google “harmed Google’s publishing customers, the competitive process, and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web.” “This is a landmark victory in the ongoing fight to stop Google from monopolizing the digital public square,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This Department of Justice will continue taking bold legal action...

Ok, sorry it has a paywall---this is only my review of it. Everyone needs to read this powerful book. It's DENSE, and took me about 4 hours to read, but the insight into how the big social tech companies are stealing our lives is important. Previously in my substacks I had written part 1, covering the first 1/3 of the book. This covers the last 2/3.

https://x.com/DOGE/status/1910728527776809457Department of Government Efficiency@DOGE·11hGood work by @USGSA for inking its first consolidated deal following the President’s Executive Order: Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement.With this deal, GSA effectively used government-wide buying leverage to secure a 71% price reduction for Workspace, which will be available to all federal agencies. This will be the first of many bulk discounts as a result of centralized procurement.Apr 11, 2025 · 10.4M Views

Users beware: This ransomware poses a threat to precious data. The FBI has issued a warning regarding malicious malware that demands a ransom from victims in order to release their data. Dubbed “Medusa,” the “ransomware-as-a-service” has affected more than 300 known people “from a variety of critical infrastructure sectors” since it was first discovered in 2021, according to a recent advisory penned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center. In order to protect themselves, people can follow the agencies’ tips and tricks for securing accounts and personal...

Amazon, Google, and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta have joined a growing list of energy-intensive companies calling for governments and utilities to triple nuclear power capacity by 2050, signaling a significant boost for the nuclear industry’s revival. The Financial Times reports that tech giants Amazon, Google, and Meta have stepped forward to support the goal of tripling nuclear power capacity by 2050. The companies, along with oil group Occidental and chemical producer Dow, signed a pledge coordinated by the World Nuclear Association (WNA), an advocacy group for the sector. This move follows a similar pledge made in September by 14 of the...

Joe Biden’s final act of shamelessness was pardoning his entire crime family in the final hours of his presidency. There’s a mountain of corruption that’s yet to be fully revealed. On the weaponization of government front, you’d think the sustained lawfare launched against President Donald Trump from the Department of Justice was evidence enough. Pro-life activists and the January 6 defendants also being ensnared by the Biden DOJ’s extralegal crusade on political dissidents. That’s only the tip of the iceberg. The Media Research Center found not one, not ten, but 57 anti-free speech and censorship initiatives aimed at chipping away...

Google has quietly updated the webpage for its Responsible AI and Human Centered Technology (RAI-HCT) team, removing language related to DEI. It is yet another sign that the ultra-woke tech giant is extending an olive branch to the Trump administration. TechCrunch reports that Google has made significant changes to the webpage describing the work of its Responsible AI and Human Centered Technology (RAI-HCT) team. The team, which is responsible for conducting research into critical areas such as AI safety and fairness, has had its mission statement altered, with mentions of “diversity,” “equity,” and related terms being removed or replaced with...

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr is asking the CEOs of Alphabet and Google for answers regarding possible discrimination against faith-based programming. YouTube TV is allegedly refusing to carry Great American Family, and Carr posted a letter online Friday addressed to Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, Inc. and Neal Mohan of Google, Deadline reported. According to Carr, Great American Media complained to him about the issue. He did note that several networks including Comcast and Hulu do carry the network. The chairman explained that Google launched YouTubeTV in 2017. The Deadline article said, “Carr acknowledged the limitations on the FCC’s...

Google Chrome users have been warned to delete 16 “malicious” browser extensions that could lead to a security threat and “fraud” at the hands of a prolific “threat actor.” The extensions affect functionality involving screen capture, ad blocking, emoji keyboards and more, with a potential impact on at least 3.2 million users, according to GitLab Threat Intelligence, which first reported the threat. The extensions inject code and harmful scripts into browsers, allowing hackers to steal user data and engage in search-engine fraud involving ad revenue, according to Tom’s Guide. After users granted permission to use them, the extensions, while legitimate,...

TikTok refugees fled by the millions to RedNote, a Chinese app, in response to the TikTok ban, which went into effect Jan. 19, 2025. The company shut down the app shortly before midnight on Jan. 18 but restored service the following day. The app was unavailable to download from the Apple and Google app stores on Jan. 19. Through cat memes, shared jokes about the ban and honest conversations about usually avoided topics, former TikTokers and RedNote natives are bridging years of U.S.-China digital separation. This spontaneous convergence recalls the internet’s original dream of a global village. It’s a glimmer...

All 1.8 billion Gmail users have been issued a 'red alert' over a scam that lets hackers gain access to accounts. The attack uses AI to craft deepfake robocalls and malicious emails capable of bypassing security filters. The combination works to convince victims their Gmail account has been compromised. Users receive a phone call that suspicious activity was detected in their account and are told an email is soon to follow with steps to rectify the issue. The email includes a fake website that looks identical to Google's, which prompts users to enter their login credentials. Cybersecurity experts warned that...

Check me: I am using Google on a Chrome web Browser. No special or unusual search criteria attempted, simply tried to find the link to the government's DOGE web site. Google is listing hundreds of distractions, of columns and website discussing - but mostly criticizing and cursing Trump's DOGE process. (And quite a few trying to get me to click on Dodge truck and car links). But. The basic official DOGE contact website? Invisible on the first four pages of search results. My intent is to submit a recommendation that Trump specifically audit the IRS database for duplicate SSN/EIN numbers...

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday her government was deciding whether to initiate a lawsuit against Google for renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America on Google Maps. "We are going to wait. We are already seeing, observing what this would mean from the perspective of legal advice, but we hope that they will make a revision," Sheinbaum said, according to Reuters. Fox News Digital has reached out to Google. Google renamed the body of water after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to change it. Now, Google Maps users in the United States will see "Gulf...

Washington DC searches soar for "Swiss bank" (yellow), "offshore bank" (green), "wire money" (red) and "IBAN" (blue)

Over three times more people in DC are googling "Criminal Defense Lawyer" than anywhere else in the US!

Just for grins, I typed in "how many audits did Obama order?" It didn't answer the question. Not even close. But there were plenty of lines peripheral to the subject of auditing in general. Pity we can't require something that functions as a public utility to actually serve the public. Private business, and all.

.. . The real story is what’s being done to lock down Android, and why you’ll need a newer model phone in 12-weeks time... The other highlight further narrows the gap to iPhone, removing some of the looser restrictions that enabled threats to more easily fester on its ecosystem than Apple’s. “The Play Integrity API," Google says, “allows developers to check if their apps have been tampered with or are running in potentially compromised environments, helping them to prevent abuse like fraud, bots, cheating, and data theft.” The company also notes that “apps using Play integrity features are seeing 80%...